Former names | Alaska Methodist University (1957-78) |
---|---|
Type | Private university |
Established | 1957 |
Religious affiliation | United Methodist Church |
Academic affiliations | IAMSCU Eco League Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Space-grant |
President | Janelle Vanasse |
Students | 509 [1] |
Location | , , 61°11′21″N149°48′15″W / 61.1893°N 149.8042°W |
Campus | Urban |
Website | www |
Alaska Pacific University (APU) is a private university in Anchorage, Alaska. [2] It was established as Alaska Methodist University in 1957. Although it was renamed to Alaska Pacific University in 1978, it is still affiliated with the United Methodist Church. [3] The main campus is located adjacent to the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and the Alaska Native Medical Center.
The university was founded in the late 1950s as Alaska Methodist University by Peter Gordon Gould, an Aleut from Unga, Alaska. [4] Gould became the first Alaska Native minister in the United Methodist Church later in life, and used his position to campaign for the development of a Methodist University in Alaska. [5]
Alaska Methodist University dedicated its campus on June 28, 1959. [6] In April 1958, Dr. Donald F. Ebright was elected as the university's first administrative president. [3] Frederick P. McGinnis was elected in 1960, and served as acting president to the first class of students to attend the university. [7] Approximately 900 acres of land destined to become the site of the APU Kellogg Campus was attained in 1973 from the DeWolf-Kellogg Trust. [8]
In November 1978 Alaska Methodist University was renamed Alaska Pacific University. [6] [9] Despite the university's origins with Judeo-Christian traditions found in United Methodism, there is no sectarian or doctrinal creed found in its educational offerings. [6] In 2016, APU formed a strategic partnership with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, the largest Tribal health organization in the country. The partnership supports the development of academic and cultural programs focusing on the needs of the state and Alaska Natives. [10]
The Early Honors program functions as an alternative to the senior year in high school. [11] Undergraduates can pursue liberal arts and sciences programs. [12] APU's course year is split into "block" sessions of four weeks, co-existing alongside the "session" of eleven weeks to form a semester. APU offers nine graduate programs, eight master's degrees and one doctoral degree. [12] There are also several graduate certificate options. [12] APU also offers a professional studies programs for non-traditional students. [13]
The main campus includes academic facilities, residence halls, community gathering spaces, recreational facilities, and winter and summer recreational trails. The campus consists of eight major buildings, with five of them currently utilized directly by the university. [14] The three other buildings on the main campus are offices for the US Geological Survey, Alaska Public Media, and the Alaska Spine Institute. [15] [16]
The Atwood Center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the location (along with North and South Atwood) of a major conference of Alaska Natives at the time of the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971. [17] APU has an extension of its campus in Palmer, AK known as the Kellogg Campus. It functions as a 700-acre working farm for students of the sustainability program, as well as an environmental learning center for home-schooled students. [18]
There are multiple housing accommodations on the main campus, divided up by class year designations. All incoming freshman under 21 years of age are required to live on campus for their first two years. [19]
Alaska Pacific University is known for its Nordic Ski Team. [20] [21] The APU Nordic Ski Center (APUNSC) was established in 1999 as a regional Olympic training center for cross-country skiers. [22] According to the center's "About" page, the mission of APUNSC is to encourage involvement in cross-country skiing programs in Anchorage. [23] APUNSC offers year-round training programs for all levels of skiers who wish to compete professionally.
Alaska Methodist University's ski team sent four skiers to the 1972 Winter Olympics; AMU/APU has sent at minimum one skier to every winter Olympics after 1972, including Kikkan Randall who became a gold medalist in the cross-country skiing event at the 2018 Winter Olympics. [24] [25]
Associated Students of Alaska Pacific University (ASAPU) is the elected body for student government. ASAPU members represent student interests and oversee student clubs and organizations. APU has a typical assortment of student clubs and organizations with which students can affiliate themselves. [26]
In the Residence Halls, the Resident Activity Programming Board hosts events for students who live on campus. [27]
Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private, evangelical Christian university in Azusa, California. The university was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900, in Whittier, California, and began offering degrees in 1939. The university's seminary, the Graduate School of Theology, holds to a Wesleyan-Arminian doctrinal theology. APU offers more than 100 associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs on campus, online, and at seven regional locations across Southern California.
Westminster University is a private university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in 1875 and comprises four schools.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for classes in 1922. Originally named the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, it became the University of Alaska in 1935. Fairbanks-based programs became the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1975.
The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna College, and Prince William Sound College. Between the community campuses and the main Anchorage campus, roughly 15,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students are currently enrolled at UAA. It is Alaska's largest institution of higher learning and the largest university in the University of Alaska System. The university is classified among "Master's Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs" with an additional classification for Community Engagement.
Kikkan Randall is an American, Olympic champion cross-country skier. She has won 17 U.S. National titles, made 29 podiums on the World Cup, made five trips to the Winter Olympic Games and had the highest finish by an individual American woman at the World Championships, second in the Sprint in Liberec in 2009. She was the first American female cross-country skier to take a top ten finish in World Cup competition, to win a World Cup race and to win a World Cup discipline title. She won the silver medal in the individual sprint at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, becoming the first American woman to win a medal in cross country skiing at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, and in 2013 teamed up with Jessie Diggins to win the first ever American FIS Nordic World Ski Championships gold medal in the team sprint. She and Diggins won the United States' first ever cross-country skiing gold medal at the Winter Olympics in women's team sprint at Pyeongchang in 2018.
Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School (BDEAHS) is a public high school which serves grades 9–12 in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Anchorage School District. The current principal is Ron Brown. East's mascot is the Thunderbird, and the school colors are red and blue. With an enrollment of 1,765 students as of the 2019–2020 school year, East High School is the second largest school in Alaska, after West Anchorage High School, which enrolled 1,772 students in the same school year. In October 2020, it was decided by the Anchorage School District Board to rename East Anchorage High School as Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School after the late Bettye Davis.
James Southam is an American cross-country skier who has competed since 1998. His best individual World Cup finish was 22nd in a 15 km + 15 km double pursuit event at Whistler Olympic Park in January 2009. He races with the Alaska Pacific University Ski Center in Anchorage.
Holly Brooks is an American cross-country skier from Seattle, Washington who competed for Whitman College in 2001–04 and has competed recreationally since 2009. She has four victories in lesser events up to 10 km, all earned in 2009. She was a late qualifier to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, her second ever international skiing competition following the 2010 World Cup in Canmore.
Jessica Diggins is an American cross-country skier. She and teammate Kikkan Randall won the United States' first-ever cross-country skiing gold medal at the Winter Olympics in the team sprint in 2018. At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Diggins won the silver medal in the 30 kilometer freestyle and the bronze medal in the individual sprint, making her the most decorated American cross-country skier of all time. She also won four medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships from 2013 to 2017 and would later become the first American to win a gold medal at the event for an individual contest in 2023. In 2021, Diggins clinched the top spot in the women's overall standings for the 2020–21 FIS Cross-Country World Cup, becoming the first American to do so.
Sophia Shuell Caldwell Hamilton is a retired American cross-country ski racer who specialized in sprint disciplines. She won two races and achieved a total of 10 podiums in World Cup competition. Since 2019, Caldwell has been married to fellow US cross-country teammate Simeon Hamilton. On March 22, 2021, aged 31, she announced retirement from competitive skiing.
Erik Bjornsen is an American cross-country skier. He competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi in the 30 kilometre skiathlon and sprint, and at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, in men's 30 km skiathon and 15 km freestyle.
Sadie Maubet Bjornsen is a retired American cross-country skier and former member of the United States Ski Team Nordic programs "Cross Country A Team" roster.
Rosie Brennan is an American cross-country skier. On 13 December 2020, she became the second American cross-country skier to win back-to-back World Cup races, after Kikkan Randall in 2011.
The women's team sprint freestyle cross-country skiing competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 21 February 2018 at 19:00 KST at the Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The event consisted of 6 by 1.25km sprints alternating between 2 teammates. Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins won the event, making this the first ever Olympic medal for the United States in women's cross-country skiing. It was also the first ever Olympic gold medal for the United States in cross-country skiing. Charlotte Kalla and Stina Nilsson came second, and the defending champion Marit Bjørgen, skiing in pair with Maiken Caspersen Falla, won the bronze medal.
Scott Patterson is an American cross-country skier. He competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2022 Winter Olympics. He skied for South Anchorage High School, where he was a three-time Alaska State skimeister. He then skied for the University of Vermont along with his sister, Caitlin. Currently, he represents Alaska Pacific University professionally and the US Ski Team. Most recently, he placed 10th at the World Championships 50k Classic race in Obersdorf, Germany.
Tyler Kornfield is an American Olympic cross-country skier.
John Morton is an Olympic skier and writer from the United States. He was born in Keene, New Hampshire. Morton has participated as an athlete, coach, and team leader in seven Olympic Games for the United States in the biathlon event.
The trail system of Anchorage, Alaska spans 578 miles (930.2km). The Municipality of Anchorage created the first set of trail systems for recreation in the late 1950s, not developing a system that was commuter friendly until the mid 1960s. The trails, which are used primarily for recreation and commuter traffic, are heavily utilized year round for walking, biking, and skiing. Many of the trail systems in place that connect the city of Anchorage in a commuter-friendly way were kick started by John "Jack" Roderick, the first mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage, who held office from 1972-1975.
August "Gus" Schumacher is an American cross-country skier. In 2020, Schumacher became the first American to win a gold medal in an individual race at the Junior World Ski Championships. He competed in the 30 kilometre skiathlon at the 2022 Winter Olympics.